.JSON File Extension

JavaScript Object Notation File

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) files are used with Ajax based Web Application programming.

They're similar to .XML files and are slowly growing in popularity. Used for storing simple information and transmitting structured data over multiple networks, they're based on a lightweight, human readable, text format. Initially based on JavaScript, the format is now regarded as language-independent as it's supported by multiple Application Program Interfaces.

While various apps and programs use the JSON format for data sharing, most of them don't actually create files with the ".json" extension and store them on local hard drives. This is because data is sent and received by computers connected through the Internet. However, there are some applications, even web based ones, that use .json files for storing data locally. For example, Google Plus enables the user to download all his Profile data and store it on his computer in a .json file.

The .json format is also used by the Mozilla Firefox Web Browser. JSON files created with Firefox are used for backing up the list of bookmarks saved within the browser. If the user somehow loses this list, he can simply restore it from the .json file.

How to open .JSON Files

Since .json files are supported by multiple programming APIs, there are a lot of options for opening and editing them. Any text editor like Apple Text Edit, Pico, Notepad or WordPad will do.

For importing the contents of a .json file into Mozilla Firefox users need to access the bookmark Library, click the "Import" button, select "Restore" and choose the appropriate backup file. It is important to note that once the contents of a .json file are imported into Firefox, they will replace any existing ones. Backup files are automatically created by Firefox and stored in the "Bookmarkbackups" folder. Manual backups are also available as well as importing the information into another copy of Mozilla Firefox.